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Just started doing this after a cycling drought and terrible man flu. In a word....disappointed! I've done the 8 min test twice now and gone from and amazing 128 to 156. I'm due to start the sweet spot base low volume on Tuesday so I'll have the chance to have a crack at it again. Thing is, I've signed up to do the c2c in May over 2 days, so there's no escape!
^^ what do you weigh in kg?
I wouldn't concern myself with the figures too much, just enough to make sure the set up is consistent and you're showing signs of improvement.
I'd really like to know my actual power but know I need a power meter for that.
Dirty rider - around 80kg.
Haze - I'm not too fussed with massive numbers but I was expecting more than that. It is a bit of a learning curve though as its a new bike and I've not spent much time on a TT before. On the plus side it is getting better!
156W at 80kg? id check your setup its "very" low its more or less off the bottom of the power profile chart
What do I need to check? Things like TT pressure against the wheel?
id start at the beginning, tyre pressure,pressure on the tyre, trainer road wheel circumference, correct trainer selected, etc etc
Ok, I'll take a look. Thanks.
Finding it hard to keep to a program as the weather hasnt been that bad so riding more than anticipated, so bit of structure has gone out of the window. However in middle of week 5 mtb and just done meganic +2, enjoy the sprint ones far more than steady state efforts.
First xc race is 22nd March so will need to sort the timings out but feeling good for it, turbo and trainerroad has given me my best winter prep yet.
Check out this article for help on getting the most accurate Virtual Power reading: [url= http://support.trainerroad.com/hc/en-us/articles/201655670-Setup-and-Tips ]http://support.trainerroad.com/hc/en-us/articles/201655670-Setup-and-Tips[/url]
-Trevor from TrainerRoad
Any recommendations for an over-under session for a recovering person? Something not too intense, but to get me back up to par before the weekend's MTB racing.
I'm thinking Starr at 100% on Tuesday, then going to Ian Campbell on Thursday at 90%, followed by Laurel at 100% 9:00am Saturday morning as a sharpener?
The race is Sunday 2pm...
Any recommendations for an over-under session for a recovering person?
how about ebbets? very little over (time wise). or mount wood (fnar fnar)
I did palisade last night - Its over under. Pretty tough. But once you are back up and fighting fit its a really good session. My average for each 9 minute block was deliberately just above FTP, so the overs are hard. But its only over for 2 minutes, so mentally, very doable.
Why not just do some basic Sweet spot work? If you are feeling strong, raise the intensity of the last effort or the last sections of each effort?
Personally, the first turbo session after a long break away from it, even if its not a break from the bike and training, is always tough. I usually forget how tough, but when i don't, I try to ease in with something that looks easy on paper
Why not just do some basic Sweet spot work?
I did that yesterday, and some aerobic sessions last week, and cruised through 2 x 15min efforts at 85%. So I wanted to up it a bit, include some harder short intervals (the overs) to start to replicate the racing accelerations a little, yet was using <80% intensity as a guide.
I don't want to spiral back downhill with illness by doing too much too quickly.
Krypton have a look at some of the mtb specific ones, specifically the last week sessions ie stress the system but not overload with a high tss. Over the years if I've ever felt that I really couldn't face doing anything I would always just do a short but sharp session to wake me up but not kill me.
Even have a look at some of the warm up sessions, they are aimed at low impact but enough to get you going. Or something like Katahdin with a lower ftp and not do all the intervals.
Good luck for the race.
How do you know how much tension to have on the tyre from the turbo?
A bit of guesswork (well the way I do it) - it should be firm enough that you don't get any slippage but loose enough that you aren't deforming the tyre.
You then adjust the resistance via whatever mechanism your turbo has. I use virtual power so have set the resistance to a level where I can spin reasonably quickly in the lowest gears to get the required power for the rest intervals, if that makes sense.
id start at the beginning, tyre pressure,pressure on the tyre, trainer road wheel circumference, correct trainer selected, etc etc
I've recently started & had very similar results to jsync but am not really sure how to get the initial set up correct.
Is there an idiot proof guide anywhere?
Pump the tyre to your preferred pressure. Tighten it onto the surface of the tyre, then wind it until it indents the tyre about 3mm approx. if the tyre slips when you start to apply pressure beyond warm up, tight little tiny bit at a time. Once it stops slipping, make a mark / record where it is.
Redo the process if you change tyres including a new ftp test not worrying about any change in power at this time because you are merely seting a base. Ensure your pressure is the same each time. If you can, take the bike on and off he turbo without changing the tension.
Or buy a powermeter, mine arrives later in the week.
Cheers Kryton - sounds much like what I've done.
It is intriguing seeing other peoples numbers from the same workout - there's a wild variation in FTP but quite a high proportion see to be down at my pathetic level 🙂
Seen a couple uploaded to strava too which but you can even see almost identical figures but much higher speed/distance for the same power output - I guess that's down to resistance on the TT or something.
Cheers Kryton, will give that a go as it looks like the tyre is clamped pretty tight.
Never fear Nobby, it can only get better (that's what I'm telling myself)
Maybe jsync, but if I change set up it means doing the 8 Minute #*+$€#%$¥ test again. 😉
Me too, booked in tomorrow for the 3rd effort.......funtastic
OK, it looks like it might be me. I had a fiddle with tyre pressure and tension and the 3rd attempt is 161, so just up a bit from 156. At least it is consistent so it will be a good base whatever the figure. On the plus side my cock wasn't numb this time like it was for the others 🙂
I did Mills for the first time tonight. I now feel ill!
double post tastic!!!
Been off the bike a year:
20min test and got 100ftp
Baxter
8min test
Baxter
Slide
8min test
8min test and got 180ftp
Think you become "accustomed/conditioned" to the test after a few goes. Just started week 3 of sweet spot base mid vol, really enjoying it. Less the 2.5hr Koip mind****. Entered a few Peak District sportives in April for a bit of focus.
Some of the power that folk push out is mind blowing! TBH I think I personally worked harder during the Sufferfest vids perceived exertion than to a power output, but it's predominantly form training on this plan and I like the high cadence stuff. Got a feeling when the plan switches to turning big gears I might suffer!
Nice custom session I tried for the first time the other night, I call it the Ant White having stolen it from his blog:
5 min Z5
5 min Z5
20 min Z4
5 min Z5
5 min Z5
(I did 5 min Z2 rest in between each)
According to Ant "They kind of mimic the longer climbs that occur in my more important races and try to drive lactic acid tolerance up a bit." I would describe it as getting some pain in the legs nice and early with the first two intervals and then adding stupid amounts of pain from then on. Some decent TSS in that hour! Enjoyed it 😀
Boom. 205 > 250FTP.
Two months of sporadic time crunched sessions.
There's an athlete hiding in here somewhere.
On the final week of SP LV1, did Brasstown tonight. Jeez! Talk about old school turbo, by far the least interesting session I've done so far. Just got the 8min test to look forward to on Monday 😯
Worst bit about the 8 min test?
Getting to the end of the first one and knowing you've got to do it all over again.
I think some of the increase was being better at the test. I finished both about 10s from puking.
Nice work Jam bo!
Well that was interesting. I recieved a Powertap G3 today, so set her all up and off I went...
I did Hitchcock - Sweetspot @85%/189w. 5 mins in and I notice my HR was 10bpm lower and my legs were spinning much easier. 15 mins in and there wasn't a bead of sweat, so I decided to have a play. Cue, 6 x 330w intervals, a 270 2min interval, 4 x 420w intervals. So probably my prior illness had ground me to pieces and TR was quite inaccurate for me/mysetup certainly at the higher end of the range - as I wasn't even achieving a TR 223w 2 minute interval 4 weeks ago.
I'm quite looking forward to next weeks FTP test now as I imagine my numbers will be significantly up.
My g3 gives readings miles out, are you using the garmin speed/cadence still?
Man I really want a power meter...
.
My g3 gives readings miles out, are you using the garmin speed/cadence still?
Oh god.... Yes? How do you know it's miles out?
You need another PM to compare it to 😉
Heeeellllp!
will have been something not setup right, but this was the last workout i did
420W for 6 minutes are nowhere near my max HR
http://www.trainerroad.com/cycling/rides/1403630-Carson-TC
I ought they were accurate to 1%?
they are, however my issue was with integrating it with trainer road,
Surely if calibrated correctly it can't be hugely out, maybe 1% is pushing it though, when I was looking into power meters they all reviewed well (dc rainmaker) and not that different results.
To be fair as long as it is a figure that is a constant it doesn't matter other than comparing with others...
Raymond today for me after pushing it a little bit too hard in the wind on the commute, if I didn't have a kickr I would have backed off but it doesn't let me. Learning to embrace the pain 🙂
Friend thought he was doing 700 watts for an hour until I calibrated his kickr properly for him, he's gutted that he is using a lower figure now but has no idea what any of it means...
Edit- re tr integration is it possible to do a standalone run without it running to check figures ?
they are, however my issue was with integrating it with trainer road,
Ok, I have mine connected to my Garmin, and TR as a device. I hit the set 0 button first. The only problem I had was the smoothing - it's match harder to be accurate with the Powertap ive had to set TR to 3 second smoothing to avoid my workout looking like a drawing by a kid with a crayon whose just been stung by a wasp.
My garmin shows an NP of 191w, TR 197w although I did do an extra 2 mins of cool down after the TR workout finished.
I have powertap G3. Had it over 1 year. Been v. Good so far. Works great on road and in TR. Just remember to calibrate on garmin and in TR. Sometimes get slightly different calibration numbers but results are almost identical.
I hope it isn't out I got no way of telling!! Just come to end of SSpot low vol 2. Current FTP is 260. Gonna have a break from turbo as getting a little bored. May try 8 min test in week or 2 see if there's any improvement.
Under the "Devices" tab of the app, make sure Virtual Power is not enabled. A lot of times this will be turned on and TR will try to take your speed, run it against an incorrect power curve, and give you power data from that rather than from your power meter.
-Trevor from TrainerRoad